Saturday, March 27, 2010

NY Beat: Hit & Run 25th Anniversary Celebration Podcast Mix

To celebrate the upcoming NY Beat 25th anniversary reunion at Dusk Lounge in New York City on April 10th, I have created a podcast that includes songs by nine of the bands that featured prominently on the original 14-track compilation (the tenth song is by Legal Gender who later went on to become The NY Citizens). Most of the songs on the podcast come from long out-of-print records that were available shortly before the release of the compilation or come from albums recorded after its release. A few songs come from 7" singles that were released on Moon Records in the mid-80's. A few more (like songs by The A-Kings and Second Step) are drawn from rare demo recordings that were never widely released or distributed.

The period of 1985-88 was a very fertile time for the bands that featured on the N.Y. Beat: Hit & Run compilation. Hot on the heels of the release of the compilation record, Moon Records honcho Rob 'Bucket' Hingley made bold plans to release a series of six split 7" singles that would highlight the best of the New York ska scene. Sadly the '6-Pack Series' only made it to two 7" single releases in 1987. The first featured The Toasters and Beat Brigade on what may be one of the best American ska 7" singles ever released. The Toasters are in amazing form on their fiery classic 'Talk Is Cheap' backed by Beat Brigade's playful and rocking 'Try And Try Again'. The run was limited to just 1,000 copies which makes originals incredibly hard to find collectors items. The second split 7' single featured Legal Gender with their unique new wave ska sounds on the song 'Overcast'. The flip side of the single is the catchy mod rock of The Scene with 'Bruise in Me' featuring the stellar vocals of Melanie Rock. This single was also limited to just 1,000 copies.

Other bands that were featured on the compilation also recorded EPs and full albums, including Cryin' Out Loud who self-released their EP 'Live It Up' in 1985. The video for the song of the same name was featured on MTV's 120 Minutes for a time giving the band a short taste of the lime light. Urban Blight recorded 'From The Westside To The Eastside' on a mobile recording unit at their rehearsal space near New York University and released it in 1987 leading to local radio airplay around the New York region. The Boilers followed suit as well with 'Rockin Steady' which they recorded at Jeff Baker's parents house in New Jersey. The record was slated for release on Moon Records, but a disagreement with Hingley over the artwork and title prevented that from happening. It remains a lost gem of the American ska scene. Finally, Shot Black & White (formerly The Daybreakers) won a 'Battle Of The Bands' competition at the New Jersey Shore in 1987 that gave them the free studio time to record their full-length LP 'Understand'.

Below is a podcast featuring some of the best songs that NY Beat-era bands recorded. Enjoy and listen to them often!

Who Is Marco On The Bass?

I heard ska and reggae music for the first time when I was 14 and it was love at first listen. I loved the sound, the look and the energy. It changed my life. A little bit later I picked up a bass and taught myself to play and in 1988 started the first ska/reggae band from New Jersey called Bigger Thomas. We are still together 29 years later. Maybe you've heard of us? No worries if you haven't! We've released 4 albums and toured the U.S and Canada a few times. As a musician I've had the good luck to meet and play with most of my musical heroes. That allows me to give readers the inside scoop on all the bands they love. I also tell the stories of the many bands who helped popularize ska in the U.S. and the U.K. I pay special attention to the birth of American ska and the stories of the bands and musicians who were ahead of their time and never received the recognition they deserved. I recently helped to form two new musical projects -- Rude Boy George, a band that performs ska, reggae and rocksteady versions of 80's new wave songs and Heavensbee, an original studio project that makes dub pop.

Rude Boy George - Love & Dancing -- New Wave Goes Ska!

I play bass in Rude Boy George -- a band the plays ska and reggae versions of 80's new wave classics. We've been releasing a song and video every other month during 2016 and 2017. The collection of songs is titled "Love and Dancing" and it is the second collection of 80's new wave tracks that Rude Boy George has recorded in a ska and reggae style. Check out a few of our videos including a new wave/reggae version of the Blondie classic "Atomic" and our versions of songs by Howard Jones, Bob Marley, Kim Wilde, Wang Chung, The Cure and Soft Cell!
"Love and Dancing" pays homage to the Human League who had a side project called The League Unlimited Orchestra and released a remix of their "Dare" album with that title in the early 80's. The album is available on Bandcamp.
Love and Dancing by Rude Boy George

RUDE BOY GEORGE LIVE!

Want to see Marco On The Bass perform with Rude Boy George (ska, reggae and rocksteady versions of 80's new wave songs)? Below is a list of upcoming shows:

Rude Boy George

May 26 -27, 2018

SuperNova International Ska Festival

Spotsylvania, VA

Heavensbee - Dub Pop

I recently formed dub pop trio Heavensbee with my Rude Boy George bandmates Roger Apollon Jr. and Megg Howe. Seeking to create songs that explored the darker side of personal relationships, we holed up for six months over the late winter and early spring of 2015 in a tiny rehearsal space in New York City, where we worked to hone our sound. We approached each song like writing a scene from a movie or play, discussing the characters relationships and motivations. The result was "Soul Mates!"

Check out the video for our debut single "Bombs Away"

The songs we worked on take their inspiration from ska, dub reggae and Lover’s Rock (The Specials, Lee Perry), 80's new wave (Depeche Mode, Human League, Fun Boy Three) and indie rock (Lana Del Ray, the xx). The album is available on CD in the U.K. on Specialized Records or can be streamed/downloaded on Bandcamp.

Bigger Thomas Celebrating 30 Years in 2017!

Bigger Thomas is celebrating 30 years in 2018! Below is video from one of our earliest shows at the legendary City Gardens in Trenton, NJ in 1989 when we opened for Yellowman!

To celebrate our 25th anniversary back in 2013, we released "Ska In My Pocket: The Biggest & Bestest of Bigger Thomas" a digital only retrospective featuring twenty one of our favorite songs taken from the four albums and two demo tapes we released since forming the band in New Brunswick, NJ in 1988.

Its available for download on the Bandcamp link below. We hope you enjoy it!